What We Learned: Rubin Kazan

April 11, 2013 CFC360

Chelsea secured their progress into the last four of the Europa League a 3-2 defeat the second leg of their quarter final against Rubin Kazan in a topsy-turvy second leg that saw the Blues progress to the semi-finals despite a narrow defeat on the night after goals from Fernando Torres and Victor Moses either side of the break.

Scorers :

Stats :

What We Learned :

1. Fernando Torres – back?

2. Defensive woes

3. Good performance from Victor Moses and Ramires

4. Nathan Ake ready for the big stage

1. Fernando Torres – back?:

After 3 good performances prior to this match, Fernando Torres put in another good shift. His first real action produced a goal – a delightful half-volley from way outside the penalty area that sailed in after Rhyzikov had wandered off his line. Has made a habit of embarrassing this particular goalkeeper. It was a sublime finish by Torres after a great ball by Frank Lampard that found Torres’ brilliant run. After a good performance and a goal, a lot of fans will say “Torres is back”.. I’m not 100% sure on it this time, but after 4 good performances, Torres might be back. What we do know for sure, is that Torres’ confidence is at a high level.

2. Defensive questions?:

We defended quite horrendously tonight especially aerial balls with Rafa Benitez’s zonal marking not doing the greatest of jobs.

Ferreira – Was composed on the ball and produced a resolute display considering it was only the Portugese defenders seventh start over the last two seasons. Did not set the world alight with this performance, however, and should not threaten Ashley Cole and Ryan Bertrand’s claims to the left-back position. (Goal.com)

Terry – Blocked an early shot from Eremenko which could have turned the tie and was typically solid at the back thereafter. (Goal.com)

Luiz – Carried the ball forward well and distributed his typical share of long-range passes. Showed poor marking for Rubin’s second, though, and will be disappointed to have conceded three when his side were so in control early on. (Goal.com)

Azpilicueta – Produced reat link-up play with Benayoun down the right, ventured forward at will. Did not influence the game too much, however, and was very unlucky to have given away a second-half penalty for Rubin. (Goal.com)

With this performance, I think Benitez has to rethink the defense. Zonal marking obviously didn’t work tonight. It was, in fact, the biggest problem tonight. Due to the zonal marking, we were often easily beaten by aerial challenges in the box and we had to pay for that twice. All the goals were direct results of the failure of zonal marking. Rafa Benitez must rethink this ahead of Manchester City or else, we could face a bigger problem.

3. Good performance from Victor Moses and Ramires:

Ramires – Energetic throughout and got forward with good runs. Improved on his sloppy performance in the first leg at Stamford Bridge and came off after an hour knowing he had put in a good shift for his side. (Goal.com)

Moses – Threatened in the first half with pace and energy, firing in shots from goal scoring positions. Was rewarded with a goal early in the second half after a great turn and finish to give Chelsea a 2-1 lead. (Goal.com)

Both Ramires and Moses were the best players tonight, they put in 2 very good halves and were very consistent. They didn’t make many errors, either, which is always a good sign of improvement.

4. Nathan Ake ready for the big stage:

Ake – Did not really influence the game but stepped up to the occasion well considering this was only his second senior start. (Goal.com)

In his previous start, Ake was impressive. He played in the double pivot alongside Ramires against Middlesbrough. At the very least, Ake’s display against Middlesbrough should help coax Mikel John Obi out of the cosy shell that the Nigerian lapses into too often. Alongside Ake, Ramires excelled. The Brazilian’s shot for Chelsea’s opening goal at the Riverside, crowning a display of typically strong running and passing, may convince the manager to try him at the base of the midfield quintet again, instead of Frank Lampard. I think Nathan Ake could be ready for the starting XI next season.

Other Points :

1. Frank Lampard belongs in the attacking midfield position

2. Marko Marin’s minutes continue to stay low

1 Jun 13 LondonsFirst

Double Pivot : Main role of 4-2-3-1 formation

Double pivot, or what we usually know as Defensive Midfielders or Holding Midfielders, are two players in front of back four, and behind the attacking midfielders. These days, many top clubs in the world are using 4-2-3-1 formation. 4-2-3-1 is an advanced form of 4-5-1 with 2 Centre Backs, 2 Full Backs, 2 Defensive Midfielders (Double Pivot), 3 Offensive Midfielders (or Attacking Midfielders), and 1 Striker. I want to discuss about the double pivot role, which I think is the main role of 4-2-3-1 formation. Club with great pivots are great club We can see almost all of the big clubs have great pivot to balance the team. i.e Carrick for Manchester United, Sergio Busquets of Barcelona, Xabi Alonso of Real Madrid, Schweinsteiger of Bayern München, Gündogan of BVB , Pirlo for Juventus, and many more. These kind of players balance their team, defense and offense. Some of you probably don't understand about this role. This role IS NOT Centre Midfielder. DMF (Defensive Midfielder) plays in the deeper area than CM (Centre Midfielder). Players like Frank Lampard, Ramires, and Oscar are CM. They don't fit with 4-2-3-1 system, but they can be useful in 4-3-3 formation. Centre Midfielder types Box to box midfielder : This types of players are the most versatile of players. They are dynamic all-around and usually called as complete midfielders. They support both attacking and defense by their agility. Players of this type : Ramires, Lampard, Vidal, Yaya Toure, and many more. Playmaker : This type, as the name, has to create the chances and control the attack of the team. They usually have great dribbling skill, passing ability, and ability to read the game. Players of these type : Zinadine Zidane, Iniesta, Fabregas, Juan Mata and many more These types of player are not effective as double pivot. We need players who can run the pivot jobs if we keep using 4-2-3-1 formation. And those Pivot Jobs are: 1. Ball winner. They have to win the ball in midfield, tackle the opponents, and take the possession. 2. Cover the back four. DMF has to mind the gaps of full backs or centre back if one of them advance to support the offense. Or in free-kick or corner kick situation, when the defenders usually go forward. 3. Flow the ball. They have to distribute the ball from back four to front four. They can give it to 3 CAMs or pass it directly to Striker. 4. Play playing. A DMF has to control of the game, decide to play the game quickly, or slow the ball distribution. In Modern Football, there is one new role of DMF which it's actually not defensive midfielder. This type of players are not pushed to do tackle and win the ball often. This role is Deep Lying Playmaker. Deep lying playmaker is different with Traditional playmaker or Advanced Playmaker. These players play in deeper role than traditional playmaker. These likes of Andrea Pirlo, Schweinsteiger, Xabi Alonso, and Michael Ballack are different with Zidane, ain't them? There is an article of another writer that will explain you the detail of Deep Lying Playmaker. Back to the pivots. For me, the perfect double pivot is one Defensive minded midfielder and one Deep lying playmaker. The Defensive minded MF has to more defend, cover the back four, tackle, intercept, and so on. The Deep lying playmaker has to play the ball, flow the ball to front four, and create the chance from deep position We have Mikel as defensive minded MF, and David Luiz who has impressed me, can fill this spot too. Though both of them are not really good on flowing the ball towards the attackers. Mikel is a decent DMF (apparently most of you don't think so), he tackles, intercepts, and mind the gaps of the back four well. The weaknesses are his contribution in final third, and his pace. That's why we need a deep-lying playmaker to play alongside him, and make it perfect combo of pivot. In his recent matches, David Luiz was getting better on playing the ball and creating chances, that's why Mikel-Luiz often worked in our midfield. But Luiz is not a class deep-lying playmaker that we need to win our trophies. Oriol Romeu is worth a shout. A discipline DMF, good pace, and young. But I couldn't see him making chances for Chelsea. Ramires and Lampard (box to box MF) couldn't fill this spot, since they were more in front of or even inside opponent's penalty box than creating chances. Oscar probably can do this job, but his poor strength and balance will ruin the pivot. We were having Raul Meireles to play this role, but someone's gone mad and sold him to a club in Turkey. And we need the replacement immediately. I quite like types of Makelele, or Pirlo, or Schweini for us. Joao Moutinho, Vidal, and Gündogam are my favorite players for Chelsea to sign. Though, Moutinho is going to AS Monaco, Gündogan likely stays, and almost impossible to sign Vidal. So, what's your opinions? Do we need to sign a DMF ? if yes, who? Or we can try the youngsters Oscar, Romeu, and Josh McEachran -Crissandy

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9 thoughts on “What We Learned: Rubin Kazan”

Ken

12 years ago

Good one..thank god we scaled through
Anonymous

12 years ago

Because Marin sucks…….
CJ

12 years ago

Yeah they need to brake his nose more often still cant stay he is back sill he proves it against a bigger team been down this road too many time
And we wouldn’t have to be worrying about defense if the player up top were scoring enuf goals
- alexcfc8
  
  12 years ago
  
  He’s probs got to keep it on for longer anyway he got elbowed in the face today when he was getting tackled, they targeted to try and elbow him in the face to make him go off injured
bisla

12 years ago

Marin needs more minuts :S
abhinandanns

12 years ago

I see you, in a way, critiqued Torres’ performance. I think he needs a better credit than that!
vaakmeisster

12 years ago

Torres should never take off that mask!
Neri

12 years ago

Ake was almost a passive DM especially in the 2nd Half. His passes were all over the place, how can he be in the first team with Josh on loan. Nathan ain’t ready for the first team after yesterday’s performance.
chris (@imaginexto)

12 years ago

so disrespectful to hear you say Ake’s display should help coax Mikel from what ever cosy shell he lapses into often….mind you Mikel is the the real holding mid fielder we have cos Rami and Lamps bumps forward easily cos Mikel is there to watch their back….Unsung hero he is, get that straight into your skull